Always and Never
by IcyJadeXOXO
Summary: One brother takes the cure. One brother leaves town. Now, Elena is left to make sense of what went wrong, and try to set things right. Why? Because Elena Gilbert can make a choice without screwing things up, that's why. AU


**TITLE** : ALWAYS AND NEVER

**AUTHOR'S NOTE** : Just a one-shot story about my take on who gets the cure, and what happens after that.

**DISCLAIMER** : I don't own **The Vampire Diaries** or any of the _**recognizable characters**_. They belong to _**L.J. Smith, Kevin Williamson, Julie Plec, **__et al.,_and **CW Network**.

**SUMMARY :** One brother takes the cure. One brother leaves town. Now, Elena is left to make sense of what went wrong, and try to set things right. Why? Because Elena Gilbert can make a choice without screwing things up, that's why.

**WARNING** : Some aspects of this story may not be compliant to the ongoing TVD storyline...in other words, it's canon until it's not. Self-beta'd so forgive any imperfections.

* * *

Damon shook his head, as he took a big sip of bourbon from his tumbler. He leaned against the doorway to Stefan's room, his arms crossed, as he watched quietly while Elena fussed over his little brother's prone and unconscious form that lied in the bed.

He remembered the recent events that led up to the current development on 'the cure' saga. It wasn't a happy battle. They had to say goodbye to the loved ones they've lost...yet again. But in the end, the damn veil was back on. Big bad Silas is gone for good this time...hopefully. The mighty Originals had left Mystic Falls. All that, plus he got to witness four vampires, one witchy ghost, and one human prom king quarterback, graduate with the high school class of 2013. Not bad for a week's work.

_Yay, Team Badass!_

He observed quietly, as Elena pressed her ear into Stefan's chest. As if she couldn't wait to hear his heart to beat once again. He'd be lying if he said that he didn't wince on the inside while he watched Elena will his little brother into consciousness. Or when she held Stefan's hand and gave it a little squeeze now and then. Or when she leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear to open his eyes.

The two of them seem to fit so perfectly together, he almost didn't want to intrude. Almost. He pushed himself off the door frame and sat his glass down next to the lamp.

"You gave him the cure." It wasn't a question. Damon already knew.

"Please, Damon. Not now." Elena told him.

He smirked, and rolled his eyes. "Yes, NOW, Elena!"

"Yes, I gave him the cure. He needed it more than I do." she answered.

"That cure was for you. So that you would get to grow up and have the life that you wanted...the life that you deserve. It's what I wanted for you. It's what we all wanted for you." Damon reminded her.

"You're not listening to me, Damon. I. Don't. Need. It. " She emphasized on every word.

"Your choice, Elena. As always." he scoffed, and went back to observing.

She was tender with Stefan...careful...gentle. Too gentle, as if she'd break him if she wasn't careful enough. On guard to protect him from danger that might come. Damon mentally chastised himself, for being an idiot...for thinking that it would all be back to normal after the dust has settled. Or maybe this was normal for them. Maybe Elena was meant to love Stefan, and only Stefan.

He shook his head and looked away. That's when he felt it. He was tired. Angry, hurt, but mostly tired. Tired of seeking attention, affection and acceptance that he was sure to never get. Tired of being the second-rate brother. Tired of loving the woman before him, without being loved in return.

He knew what needed to be done. There's no other way, it took him a while, but he finally realized that. No one else to do it but him. And he needed to do it quick, or else he's just prolonging the inevitable. There was nothing left do, nothing left to try, nothing left to say. He sighed and smiled a sad smile. His little brother is going to have the happiest day of his life once he wakes up. So with all the courage he could muster, he stood up straight to face Elena.

"Do me a favor..." he whispered. "When Stefan wakes up, tell him I said goodbye." With that, he turned and walked out of his brother's room.

Elena was quick to block his path. "Goodbye? What do you mean 'Goodbye'?" she asked him frantically.

"As in 'So long'...'Farewell'...'Auf Wiedersehen'...'Au Revoir'...the opposite of 'Hello'...that kind of Goodbye." he quipped, as he continued down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" she asked, as she followed him.

"As far away from Mystic Falls as I can be." he answered stoically.

"When are you coming back?" she pressed.

"Not in your lifetime, Honeybee." he scoffed.

"You can't...you promised. You said you'll never leave me." she pleaded.

"And you automatically assumed that I'll be by your side for all of eternity?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Yes, I kinda did." she admitted.

"I guess eternity got a hell of a lot shorter." he told her, as he walked out the door.

" Why are you doing this?" she screamed, blocking his way to his car.

He tenderly grasped Elena's shoulders and slowly moved her out of his way. He smiled with a smile that never reached his crystal blue eyes...eyes that were almost brimming with tears.

"It will ALWAYS be Stefan. And I will NEVER be enough."

With that, he left Elena in stunned silence, as he drove away from the boarding house like a bat out of hell.

* * *

It took a little while, but Elena managed to compose herself from the state of perplexity that Damon left her in.

_Well, that didn't go too well._

She could have handled the situation a whole lot better. Instead, she was stuck in another fine mess. This was all on her. She knew that underneath that tough exterior, how very easy it was to hurt Damon. She knew she needed to be careful with him, but instead she had managed to hurt him once again.

She just wanted time. Time to set everything right. Time to make it all okay. She had every intention of returning Damon's affections. To tell him all that she needed to say...everything that he needed to hear. She just needed to make sure that Stefan was going to be fine. She never wanted Damon to leave. Far from it. She wanted an eternity with Damon. If only he could have waited just a little bit longer. Just until Stefan woke up. That wasn't too much to ask, was it?

She took out her phone to dial Damon's number, but he wasn't answering. Her newly regained emotions getting the best of her, she started to prattle off one message after another onto his voicemail.

"_Why the hell does it have to be all or nothing with you?"_ she yelled the first time.

"_You've waited this long...you couldn't have waited a couple of more hours?"_ she asked, her tone softer than the last message.

It was clear that Damon didn't want to speak to her, but she was not quick to be discouraged. She left him another message, but the machine cut her off. So she left another message. And another one after that. And another one after that.

"_Stefan has suffered for almost his entire existence as a vampire...as the Ripper. The blood lust, the misery, the guilt – it's been unbearable for him. And being human again was something he wanted since long before he even met me. He needed the cure, Damon. I didn't."_

"_I wanted to give him peace, Damon. I wanted him to be normal again. I want that for him. I figured if he could only stop hating himself, then he'd be okay. And we'd be free. Us, Damon. I did it for us. Please, talk to me."_

"_I can count on one hand the people that I trust right now. My true friends. And all the family I have, whether blood-related or otherwise, are lying beneath the ground. There's no more room in the Gilbert family plot, they're all taken. But I have you. And I can get through anything, as long as I have you. I need you, Damon. Nothing else. No one else. Just you."_

"_I choose you. I love you. It's real, all of it. I have loved you since I was human, and I love you still. I just didn't have the chance, nor the guts, to admit it until now. I love you, Damon. And if you give me another chance, I will prove to you just how much"_

"_You don't get off that easily. I will find you. And I will drag you back to Mystic Falls if I have to. You don't get to walk away from me...not when we're this close to finally being happy. Come back, Damon. Come back or take me with you."_

Elena didn't quit that easily. She left him message after message, until his voicemail was full. That was when she started sending him the text messages.

To: **Damon Salvatore**

From: **Elena Gilbert**

_I finally choose you, and you leave town! Are you kidding me?_

To: **Damon Salvatore**

From: **Elena Gilbert**

_You're being an idiot! You hate idiots! Turn the Camaro around, now!_

To: **Damon Salvatore**

From: **Elena Gilbert**

_I love you, Damon. Please, come home, so I can tell you in person. _

To: **Damon Salvatore**

From: **Elena Gilbert**

_I promise you the most mind-blowing make up sex if you come back right now. After that, if you still want to leave, then we'll leave together._

To: **Damon Salvatore**

From: **Elena Gilbert**

_I'll die if you don't kiss me right now. Are you just going to let me die? After all the ____lengths__ that you had to ____go__ to to repeatedly save my life._

To: **Damon Salvatore**

From: **Elena Gilbert**

_I did mention that I love you, didn't I? Because I do. I really do love you._

To: **Damon Salvatore**

From: **Elena Gilbert**

_Come back to me, Damon. Please!_

To: **Damon Salvatore**

From: **Elena Gilbert**

_I hurt you, I get that...I keep hurting you, over and over. And for that, I am so sorry._

To: **Damon Salvatore**

From: **Elena Gilbert**

_This is just a small bump. We've been through worse._

To: **Damon Salvatore**

From: **Elena Gilbert**

_We ALWAYS survive. _

_I will NEVER give you up._

* * *

"If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story." ~ Orson Welles


End file.
